What I saw was amazing. A live feed of frustrated customers around the globe – all of whom have contacted organizations and are still waiting for responses – and, worse than that, they’re telling the world. Woe betide the organizations that feature on this list…

2. Determine the nature of the query. Is this a sales lead? Is this an existing customer in need of support? Include a field (such as ‘Type of Query’) that will allow you to route the completed form automatically to the right person in your organization.

3. Auto respond, or find another way to assure the customer that someone will respond soon.

5. Set up a ‘reminder’ and reporting, so that you always know how many queries have NOT been responded to, and how long people have been waiting. Remember, research shows that almost 40% of customer queries through web go unanswered! If you don’t answer promptly, your likely to lose customers.

6. If you can respond immediately, respond with live chat.

7. Use a contact form with a history function. Allow your customers to easily view their previous interactions with your organization. This will reassure them that you’ve got all their messages, and understand their ‘journey’.